Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 520
"Brother, this car..."

"Don't be afraid, you just listen to me, I tell you to step on it and you step on it, don't worry, I'm holding the dragon head!"

In the small mountain village of Yanshan County, when Zhu Ciran's malicious voice sounded, in front of them were Zhu Cixuan and Zhu Cijiong with terrified expressions.

The three of them were standing on the square at the left door behind the palace at the moment, where Zhu Youjian and Zhu Youxiao used to practice equestrianism together, but the object changed from a horse to a four-wheeled bicycle for four people to ride.

This kind of bicycle is very similar to the four-wheeled bicycles of later generations, with a canopy on the head, handlebars with two faucets in front, and the chair is also horizontal and filled with cotton, making it very comfortable to sit on.

The four positions can be pedaled, and there is a place for luggage behind the rear of the car.

Zhu Ciran has tested that this car can carry [-] catties of goods while sitting four adults.

In addition, he also modified the awning. If it rains, you can untie the four leather bags of the awning to put down the waterproof raincloth.

However, since there is no plastic, you have to stop and rest after putting down the tarpaulin.

"Get in the car!"

Zhu Ciran sat in the front row, because he was afraid that his two younger brothers would interfere with his control of the direction, so he let them sit in the back row.

They only need to pedal, and Zhu Ciran can pedal, but with his character, he will never pedal, he can only enjoy it.

Putting on the smoky crystal sunglasses, Zhu Ciran put both hands on the handlebars, while Zhu Cixuan and Zhu Cijiong had no choice but to bite the bullet and get on the car, and then began to step on their calves and stomp hard.

As the two of them pedaled, Zhu Ciran felt the comfort of driving this kind of four-wheeled bicycle.

His feet stomped from time to time, but most of the time he followed suit without exerting much effort.

The bicycle started to drive on the square at the rear left door, and the speed was not fast. According to this speed, it was estimated that it could only advance thirty miles per hour.

This speed is already very good. As long as the road problem is overcome and only the cement road is used, it can be said to be green, natural and pollution-free, and consume five steamed buns for a hundred miles.

But looking at Zhu Ciran's clever posture, I'm afraid it's impossible for him to ride a bicycle by himself.

"Whoops..."

Feeling the speed of the car, Zhu Ciran simply drove the car out from the square at the rear left door, and started walking around the entire palace.

Accompanied by the bumping sound of the bicycle on the gold bricks, Zhu Ciran went all the way to the north and bypassed the inner court separated by a wall, then circled to the Xuanwu Gate, and then circled a big circle to the rear right gate, the Martial Heroes Hall...

After passing the Sanlong Bridge, he drove out from the Youshun Gate, passed the Huangji Gate and the Wulong Bridge, and rushed out of the Zuoshun Gate to the Sanlong Bridge in front of the Wenhua Palace. Go around the Sanlong Bridge and the East Palace, and return to the left door.

The Wenhua Palace is no different than other places, many officials are working, so after seeing the behavior of Zhu Ciran and the three of them, everyone can't help shaking their heads:
"Sigh... that's out of style... Even Your Highness and Long Live, they only rode horses at the back left door back then, why did they ever come to the Wenhua Palace to be rude?"

"The crown prince is not upright, it should be blamed on Chengde's incompetence in teaching..."

"Indecent..."

A group of civil officials in the Wenhua Palace looked at Zhu Ciran and others who were "racing" in front of the Wenhua Palace. Everyone was complaining, but they also knew that as long as Zhu Youjian and Zhu Youxiao didn't speak, then according to the "Emperor Ming Dynasty" "Ancestral Precepts" and "Daming Huidian", no matter how noisy Zhu Ciran was, he was still the heir apparent of the Ming Dynasty.

The civil servants shook their heads, and when Zhu Ciran circled around for the second time, the military generals from the Hall of Martial Arts also walked out of the palace frowning, and sighed as they watched Zhu Ciran gallop past.

"It would be good to put this strength on the battlefield."

"I'm afraid it won't work. I heard that Chengde took the prince's military examination, but he only got a rank of D. He is only a defensive talent."

"If you have no generals, you should stay in the palace honestly and avoid appearing..."

Some generals stopped talking halfway, but when they realized that something had gone too far, they immediately shut their mouths.

They watched Zhu Ciran go around and around, until noon when the sun was in the sky and the heat was unbearable, they returned to the hall.

After all, it is summer, and the heat is inevitable.

However, compared to the fact that they still have time to chat and ride their bikes, the Prince Qi's Mansion can be said to be too busy to touch the ground.

"From August to May last year, the two prefectures and four prefectures in Shanxi had no rain throughout the year. After the summer, they encountered locust plagues. The two prefectures and four prefectures were devastated for thousands of miles, and the people were in dire straits. Please allow the officials of the two prefectures and four prefectures to open warehouses for disaster relief. .”

"The two prefectures of Ningxia and Shuofang in Shaanxi Province have been full of yellow sand since May. I am afraid that the grain output from the fields in various places will decrease. The prefects of the two prefectures have issued reminders."

"Henan was hit by a locust plague. Fortunately, the local government had properly raised the locusts and eliminated the locusts in a timely manner, so the disaster was not serious. Only Kaifeng Prefecture was affected by more than [-] mu of rice fields."

"Suzhou, Changzhou, and Songjiang prefectures in southern Zhili suffered floods, sea water flooded back, and millions of acres of rice fields failed..."

"Zhejiang Hangzhou, Taizhou, and Ningbo encountered dragon hanging..."

"Jiangxi..."

"Fujian..."

"Huguang..."

In Prince Qi's Mansion, officials one after another came to report the disaster situation in various places. According to them, Daming was already in a situation of flood in the south and drought in the north.

Although Zhu Youjian was very helpless for the endless disasters, but the disaster relief still has to be disaster relief, and the immigrants still have to emigrate.

"How about the train construction until May? How about the relocation?"

Sitting in the seat of the Chengyun Hall, Zhu Youjian didn't think it was troublesome to deal with so many government affairs, so he asked Bi Ziyan, Wen Tiren and others in the hall.

"Your Highness..." Wen Tiren took a step forward, bowing with a wat board: "The Beijing-Liaoning Railway has arrived in Daning County, only [-] miles away from Shenyang. It is expected to be completed in February next year and open to traffic in March and April."

"The Beijing-West Railway has arrived at Wuyuan County (Bayannaoer) in Ningxia Prefecture. It is still [-] miles away from Xining, and it is estimated that there will be a three-year construction period."

"The Jingjia Railway has reached Tianshui, [-] miles away from Jiayuguan, and the construction period is less than six years."

"There are still more than 500 miles of the Jinglong Railway, and the construction period is nine years. The Qinling section is currently being built. It is estimated that the remaining [-] miles will take three years."

"The Beijing-Guangzhou railway has been repaired to Xuchang, and there are still [-] miles left, which is expected to be six years."

"The Beijing-Hangzhou railway will be repaired to Bozhou, and there are still [-] miles. It is estimated to be four years."

"The Kunming-Zhanjiang Railway has been built to Cochin Port, and the remaining railway from Cochin to Champa is still [-] kilometers away, and it is expected to be completed in five years."

"In addition, the Liaomo Railway and the Liaobei Railway in the northeast have been repaired to Kaiyuan, and there are [-] and [-] miles of projects left, which are expected to be completed in five and eight years."

"As for the Yunlu Railway in Yunnan and Luchuan Port, and the Western Railway in Luchuan to Dimasa, there are [-] and [-] miles left respectively, and it is expected to be completed in three and five years."

"According to the original plan, the above eleven items can be completed sequentially within nine years."

At the end of Wen Tiren's report, he did not forget to add: "The budget of the Ministry of Industry will probably be reduced to 900 million taels next year."

“天启17年左右降低到一千600万两，天启18年降低到一千400万两，天启19年降低至1000万两，天启20年降低至700万两，22年降低至400万两。”

"In about 23 years, all eleven railways have been put into operation."

Wen Tiren is very good at reporting work. Right now, everyone knows the extent of Daming's financial problems. The annual deficit of more than 400 million taels leaves everyone speechless.

But according to Wen Tiren's words, if there are no problems with taxes, the deficit can be reduced to 300 million next year, hundreds of thousands in three years, and a surplus in four years.

It seems that in the blueprint drawn by Wen Tiren, Daming's life will get better and better.

It's just that facing people like Zhu Youjian, Wen Tiren is still too young to paint.

In this year's situation of floods in the south and drought in the north, Daming's annual revenue may not even be 7000 million taels, and the deficit can reach 200 million taels in one go.

It doesn't sound like a lot, but if it is shared among the more than 75 million people in Daming, it means that Daming has to collect an additional tax of [-] cash from each of the people to make up for the deficit.

The tax money of 75 Wen may not seem much, but for a family of five with only men farming and women weaving, and occasionally working part-time, five 75 Wen is 370 Wu Wen.

370 five Wen, this is the income that the male master needs more than ten days to earn after going to work, and they have to be people who have been allocated official land by the court.

If there is no official land of three mu for one person, the annual output of the two or three mu of Susukida for many families of five is only three or four shimi, and they cannot even support their own families.

Even if the men go out to work and the women weave at home, men and women work all year round, and they can earn at most four taels of silver.

Four taels of silver is enough to buy enough rice for the family, and there are only two or three taels, and the seemingly small 370 five cash is actually equivalent to taking one-tenth of the annual income of an average family of five. And even more money.

Moreover, the number of people affected by the disaster is no less than 4000 million. Among the 6000 million people in Daming, there are still more than 500 million people who are not naturalized and have no money left.

Really counting, it is not more than 120 million people who pay taxes, but less than [-] million people can pay taxes. In total, each person has to pay [-] cash. If the household is settled, a family of five will have to pay [-] yuan. Wen, more children is more.

If the more than 9 million mu of land in Daming's hands were evenly distributed to the common people, then six hundred wen was really not much for the common people.

But now, after Zhu Youjian's 14-year policy of equalizing the rich and the poor, a large amount of wealth in Ming Dynasty is still in the hands of the gentry and nobles. In their hands alone, there are as many as 6000 million mu of land, and the remaining [-] million mu is that Land to be divided among [-] million people.

Not to mention that out of the [-] million mu, about [-] million mu is in the hands of small and medium-sized landlords, and only [-] million mu of land is actually in the hands of rich and poor peasants.

Excluding 1000 million small and medium-sized landlords, that is to say, the remaining 5000 million mu of land will be shared equally among 1000 million people. Even if the minorities in Luchuan, Jiaozhi, and Yingzhou are excluded, there are still more than [-] people.

For an era when the average person could eat at least four acres, without the means of production, a large number of people had to be tenants for the noble gentry.

Tens of millions of tenants are said to be small. In fact, based on the [-] million mu of land in the hands of gentry, nobles and small and medium-sized landlords, at least half of the people in Ming Dynasty are working as tenants for them.

Even though Daming divided one person and three acres of official land, in fact ordinary people still had to rely on tenants who were gentry landlords to support themselves.

Although the Ming Dynasty has already implemented the New Deal, and as long as the measurement of the acres of land and the registration of Qimin households are completed, according to the total grain output of the north and south of the Ming Dynasty of more than one billion shi, the treasury can receive [-] million to tens of millions of shitian grains, but the problem is that The drought is still there.

From the fourth year of the apocalypse to the 14th year of the apocalypse, there was no year in the Ming Dynasty that was able to collect all the taxes from all provinces, either here or there.

Not to mention the fact that the New Deal has not yet been fully implemented, the number of fields affected by the disaster this year alone has directly reached more than 6000 million mu. Nearly 6000 million Ishida Fu evaporated.

Under such circumstances, it would be hell to see Daming's income increase.

This is only the beginning of the second stage of the drought. In the 13th year of Chongzhen and the 20th year of Apocalypse, Zhu Youjian himself did not know whether he could survive the worst three-year disaster in the [-]th year of Chongzhen and the [-]th year of Tianqi.

"How much land tax and grain can be harvested this year..."

Thinking about all these bad things, Zhu Youjian couldn't help but look up at Bi Ziyan, who was standing in the hall and was very thin.

Faced with the inquiry, Bi Ziyan tremblingly raised the wat board and bowed: "As long as the disaster does not spread, the Ministry of Households estimates... about 8000 million shi."

"Where's the tax bank..." Zhu Youjian sighed.

"Not surprisingly, it should only be about 500 million taels, and the combined value of the two should not exceed 7000 million taels." Bi Ziyan responded with a weak voice, but he still thought of a way:
"If the grain is transported to the disaster area, it will not only stabilize the grain price, but also increase the tax payment by about 1000 million taels."

"However, in this way, it will be difficult for the relocation department in some disaster areas."

Disasters and immigrants coexist, because the people are willing to leave their hometowns and migrate because of severe disasters and the lack of food.

Selling grain to disaster-stricken areas can earn money and stabilize grain prices, but if they have enough to eat and survive, the victims will not think about relocating. This runs counter to Zhu Youjian's New Deal.

In this regard, Zhu Youjian could only frown slightly.

He wants the people to live, and he also wants the people to relocate. The two seem to be in conflict with each other, but once the victims are fed, they would rather work for a lowly job of five or six yuan a day than leave their homes.

Therefore, there is actually some conflict between the two.

"After the autumn harvest, sell it in small quantities."

Zhu Youjian still made a compromise in the face of reality, relocating and keeping the people alive, he still chose to let the people survive.

Sometimes he thought that he could be like Zhu Yuanzhang, who tied the people with ropes and moved them forcibly.

But when he thought of that scene in detail, he couldn't help but feel a little unbearable.

"How many people have been relocated this year..."

Zhu Youjian leaned back on the chair a little tiredly, and Bi Ziyan also did his homework, looking at the answers on the wat board, he reported:

"Since the beginning of summer, there have been thousands of miles of barren land in the north, and the number of immigrants has continued to increase, so that the trains have been crowded with disaster victims."

"People in Henan, Shanxi, and Shandong moved more than [-] people by train or boat in just four months, accounting for one-thirtieth of the population of the three provinces."

Bi Ziyan's words are shocking. You must know that even under the regional drought conditions in the five provinces last year, the number of immigrants from the Ming Dynasty in Jiangxi, Sichuan, Beizhili, Shanxi, and Shaanxi was only more than 180 million.

This year, the number of immigrants in just three provinces in four months has reached more than 200. If this scale can be achieved every four months, more than [-] million people will go to the Northeast that year.

You must know that even in the late Qing Dynasty when the largest number of people broke through the Guandong, they only broke through an amount of tens of thousands. Describe the extent of the situation in the three provinces.

"Chen Qiyu, Wang Wei, and Fan Jingwen have anything to say?"

Knowing that more than 70 people from the three provinces had relocated in four months, Zhu Youjian took advantage of his temper to ask the chief envoys of the three provinces about their attitude.

In this regard, although Bi Ziyan knew that sighing would hurt morale, he still couldn't help sighing and said: "Chen Yuxuan (table word) and Wang Zhaotang both expressed their shame in the letter, and they did not expect the disaster to be like this, so that the treasury was not stable enough. .”

"As for Fan Mengzhang, Shangshu was ashamed, saying that Wuyan was the chief envoy of Shanxi."

In February, Chen Qiyu and Wang Wei kept saying that Henan and Shandong could not only provide disaster relief on their own, but also borrow food from outsiders.

As a result, the severe drought broke out completely, and the two were immediately dumbfounded.

How did they know that the disaster situation in Henan and Shandong would be so serious all of a sudden.

In this regard, Zhu Youjian does not blame them. After all, the severe drought in this year in history directly turned Henan from being rich to a tragic scene of "human cannibalism".

Zhu Youjian remembers very clearly that when he read "Henan Miscellaneous Notes" in the late Ming Dynasty, as an author who likes to record the lives of ordinary people in the countryside, he was still writing about old farmers attending wedding banquets in the village in the first year. As a result, in the second year, famine broke out in Henan, and it became a scene of "no grass on the ground, no water on the river, no skin on the trees and people eating each other".

Originally it was just a paragraph of text in a book, but now it exploded in front of Zhu Youjian, requiring him to deal with it patiently.

Chen Qiyu has done a good job, at least there hasn't been a "cannibalism" tragedy in Henan right now.

"Fortunately, the people in Henan have accepted relocation for several years, so everyone relocated at the beginning of the drought, otherwise I am afraid that right now..."

Bi Ziyan's words spoke Zhu Youjian's heart, and Zhu Youjian who heard the words could only say:
"Continue to promote the policy of relocation outside the customs. If possible, people can choose to relocate their villages. The train fare on the road is free, and there is no need to relocate the iron plate."

Zhu Youjian was afraid that it would be too late to make the iron plate for relocation. After all, 10,000+ people were relocated in four months, which is equivalent to thousands of people relocated every day. Given the situation of the local government, I am afraid that they are already very busy.

At this time, you can only take a bus with an iron plate, which is forcing the people to walk to the northeast.

It's May now, and it's okay to go by car, at least you can settle down before winter, but if you go on foot, it will be late autumn or even winter by the time you reach the northeast.

At that time, when I went to the Northeast, I was either starved to death or frozen to death.

Zhu Youjian believes that there is also an upper limit for relocation. The number of paddy fields in the three provinces is there. Although the drought is severe, at most it will make the dry fields more dry, irrigated fields will become dry fields, and paddy fields will become irrigated fields.

With the scale of the paddy fields in the three provinces, even if they degenerate into irrigated fields, they can support no less than 1000 million people.

In addition, there will be a buffer period for the drought next year. I think the situation will not be as bad as it is now.

"How about the population of the three provinces outside the customs?"

"Modong has more than 260 million people, Beishan remains unchanged, Donghai has more than 270 million people, and there are still 10,000+ people on the way."

Zhu Youjian asked, and Bi Ziyan answered. Their words were straightforward and concise, but they were also full of many questions.

Not counting Beishan and Liaodong, Modong and Donghai provinces have only 840 million mu of arable land, and due to the Little Ice Age, the local grain yield is only seven buckets per mu.

Although the current population of the two provinces is 560 million, judging from the drought in the customs, it is not surprising that the population of the two provinces will exceed 600 million by the end of the year.

Taking the rations for disaster relief in the Ming Dynasty as an example, if you take three catties for a big mouth and one and a half catty for a small mouthful, then the rations for these 600 million people will be at least 200 million shi, so as to ensure that they have the strength to cultivate and survive.

However, Modong and Donghai provinces have only 840 million mu of arable land, and the yield per mu is less than 600 million shi, leaving a gap of 600 million shi. Where can Zhu Youjian go? try to find?
"This year...how much grain can be squeezed out from Yingzhou, Jiugang, and Jiaozhi respectively."

Zhu Youjian asked Bi Ziyan, and Bi Ziyan had done enough homework, and knew that Zhu Youjian would inquire about the three provinces, so he looked at the chief envoys of the three provinces on the wat board to calculate the amount and said:

"Yingzhou can squeeze out 800 million stones is the limit, Jiaozhi can squeeze out 1000 million stones, and Jiugang can squeeze out 300 million stones. However, in recent years, Jiaozhi's grain has been supplied to the southern provinces. In addition to the flood in the south of the Yangtze River, I'm afraid it will be difficult to adjust."

"As for the old port, although there is a lot of grain, it is too far away from the north. I am afraid that the grain will be moldy and rotted before it reaches the north."

"The only way is to transport the grain from the old port to Jiaozhi, and then purchase additional grain from Jiaozhi and transport it to Guangdong. While transporting the grain from Guangdong to Nanzhili, buy grain from Nanzhili and transport it to Lvshun, Liaodong."

"In this way, the food in each place only needs to be drifting at sea for more than half a month, which will not affect food consumption."

"The only drawback is that in this way, 300 to 1000% of the original [-] million shi of grain in the two provinces will be consumed in the non-stop reselling, and less than [-] million shi can be shipped to the north."

Bi Ziyan gave Zhu Youjian a plan to consume as much as 300 million shimimai, but Zhu Youjian looked at Wang Chengen who had been listening to the discussion in the hall.

"Cheng'en, how many steam wooden boats have been launched?"

"This..." Hearing this, Wang Chengen hesitated for a moment, and then said cautiously: "Only the 20 steam ships used by the Armament Academy for experiments can be launched into the water to transport goods, but the transport capacity of the ten ships is less than three [-] tons, about [-] shi."

"How long does it take to transport grain from the old port to Lushun?" Zhu Youjian asked directly.

"Counting the time to replenish coal and water, it will be about 20 days..." Wang Chengen's response made Bi Ziyan, Wen Tiren and others in the hall unbelievable.

You must know that it would take two and a half months, or seventy days, for Daming's ships to travel from Lushun to the old port at the fastest time.

Now that Wang Chengen opened his mouth, it will be 20 days directly, how can they not be surprised?

Just before they were surprised, Zhu Youjian raised his brows and ordered: "Call the ships of the Armament Academy to transport grain, order the old port to transport grain to Cochin, and then transport it to Guangdong for stockpiling after exchanging grain from Jiaozhi, and wait for the ships of the Armament Academy to transport grain northward. "

"Your Highness, even though these ships are fast, their capacity is too small..." Bi Ziyan interrupted immediately after hearing this, but Zhu Youjian waved his hand and said:

"If the volume is small, you can transport it slowly. The food in Beizhili, Liaodong, and Yingzhou provinces is enough as long as it lasts until the end of winter."

After all, Zhu Youjian stopped talking, and Bi Ziyan didn't question it anymore.

To put it bluntly, for the disaster victims, having something to eat is better than nothing...

　Afternoon update around 05:30
　　
　
(End of this chapter)